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Beta Set Review · Green

Beta Set Review · Green

03 Feb 2025

Evaluating the green cards of the limited beta set

Table of Contents

#Introduction

Green is positioned as a midrange color in the beta set. It has a number of good medium to high Lv / Cost units that constitute the bulk of its contributions to decks. It also has two of the best units at the bottom and top of the Lv range. These units come at a cost, specifically some of the weakest bases and almost no playable commands. If you are looking at green in the beta environment, you will be starting with the units and then shaping the rest of the deck to support them. Let's get into the reviews.

#Individual Reviews

We start off strong with a pilot that has an interesting effect. The Lv / Cost / stat ratio is what we have come to expect from a good pilot. At Lv4 we also get the deceptively powerful Burst trigger. Giving your opponent a pilot from their shields at the end of your turn is a great way to give up board control.

Setting that aside, the interesting bit here is the pair effect. I do not understand why templating-wise this is not labeled as a During Pair trigger, but I believe they should be functionally equivalent. This looked to me like it was going to be a major standout effect when I initially saw it. After enough test games, though, I have cooled on it significantly. It is by no means bad, but realistically it is only going to be blocking some chip damage from a 「Demi Trainer」 or 「Guntank」 . You can get a slightly more surprise value out of it If you link with the 「Shenlong Gundam」 the turn you play it. In either case, this effect is not nearly as good as those on the top tier pilots.

Score: 6/10

Of course, franchise favorite Char will be here, and independent of how good he is, I really like his representation. No one has the chops to keep up with his speed when he is in his own mobile suit. Sadly, I cannot score him on theme, so instead let us look at the card itself.

It has a good stat line that is effectively [+2|+1] on your turns and [+1|+1] on the opponents. This is already better than the other Lv3 pilots that we have. High Maneuver is the second best ability (behind Blocker ), and only present on a couple of cards in the set. Char is great for closing out games, breaking any base, and in the worst case scenario, trading with any number of 5 HP units. You really need to be running the full playsets of both 「Char's Zaku II」 and 「Gelgoog」 to take advantage of Char's strength, but so far, that core package is the direction I have liked taking green so far.

Score: 7/10

Char's custom Zaku does not live up to the capabilities of its pilot. It is not a bad card by any means, and if you are running 「Char Aznable」 then you are likely running four of this. Linking with 「Char Aznable」 is an excellent link condition, but the During Pair Destroyed trigger is dragged down by the cards available in the beta pool. White has numerous bounce effects, including ones that specifically target 1 HP units, while blue has two ways to ping a rested unit for 1 HP. I really wish that they had not decided to have the token deployed as rested. That would have made this card significantly better, and a proper mobile suit for a character like 「Char Aznable」 .

Score: 6/10

And now begins the trend of unplayable events. If you really squint, this might work in some kind of breach deck, but even then, why is it a Lv4 card? Generally, an "Add this to your hand." Burst effect is precisely what you want from commands. The problem here is that 「Citizens, Take a Stand!」 is only playable during your main phase, so it is never playable off of a burst. Its effect would be intriguing if it were allowed to be played with Action timing. On top of this, for some reason this card was put at Lv4. Given what we have seen from other cards, maybe internally for balance, cards that Burst trigger to your hand are Lv4 by default? But this card certainly does not deserve such a level. I still think it is above a 0 score, as playing it is a one of can lead to an advantage when your opponent is not prepared. But it is safer to just ignore this one.

Score: 1/10

I am not a fan of this base. It is significantly over costed for the effect you get from it. Either the Deploy effect should work on either turn, or this should only cost 1. Paying 2 for a token that is trivially removed, along with a base, is not nearly as good as what we see in white and blue. This may also be a design decision on Bandai's part. It is certainly possible that while green has units with strong stat lines and effects, it pays for that advantage with weaker bases. In either a green / blue or green / white pairing you will be prioritizing the blue and white bases first, and then filling in likely based on preference.

Score: 3/10

Avoid contact with this card at all costs. There are no cards in the beta that are enough of a payoff to be paying 3 resources to ramp. This card is an archetype trap like 「Gundam Aerial」 , and similar to the Aerial, even if there was a ramp strategy to play, this card is a bad version of it. You want to draw it early game, as a late game top deck of this is useless, but it requires your entire resource 3 turn to play it. This is generally one of the most important turns. On resource 3 you are going to either be playing your first major piece of pressure (sans 「Zaku II」 ), or you are playing your answer to your opponent's pressure. There are just too many problems with this card, from the Lv, to the Cost, to the fact that the resource it plays is rested. The only good use for this card is to trigger it via Burst . As with 「Citizens, Take a Stand!」 , just avoid this card.

Score: 0/10

And we are back into the playable green cards, and this is one of my favorite unassuming cards. On its face, it is a fairly boring unit with only a decent Lv4 stat line going for it. What it does have though is the (Zeon) trait link condition, which just so happens to link with 「Char Aznable」 giving us a second unit to activate the High Maneuver clause on. A Char linked 「Gelgoog」 takes out any base or paired unit, except for 「Wing Gundam」 . This also means that with High Maneuver your opponent cannot change the target of the attack. Finally, I would be negligent if I did not mention that this only costs 2, making it easily playable and linkable without taking your entire turn.

Score: 7/10

Heavyarms looks a lot better than it actually is. Activating the During Pair condition and gaining the Breach 3 is easy enough. To actually make use of the Breach 3 by the turn this can attack (resource 5 or later), you really are going to want 5 AP. This means you are spending one of your better Lv4+ pilots on it, but those pilots will usually have better units to be paired with at that point in the game. Pairing 「Gundam Heavyarms」 with 「Kira Yamato」 can get you a serious threat that is difficult to remove, but then you are not playing blue, which is a disadvantage in itself. This unit is still a much better option than some of the generic filler units we see, but it does not quite make it to the upper echelon of units.

Score: 5/10

This card is going to get a pure gut-based score. I have played a total of zero games either with or against 「Gundam Sandrock」 . I do not think it would be a surprise to anyone that this is not making the list of top units, but I want to be clear that it is much closer than others. A [4|4] stat line at Lv5 3 Cost is respectable on its own. It has a link condition with a pilot that is not terrible. And finally, it has a Deploy effect that could be strong with a little more support. For scoring we are not considering what this card could do in the future, but if the beta had contained a 3 cost (Magnac Corps) unit in addition to 「Maganac」 , I think this would be playable. Absent that, there are just too many good cards at the high end for 「Gundam Sandrock」 to compete. I am ready to be run over by the (Magnac Corps) swarm once we get the full release.

Score: 3/10

It's the guy. In the US I am presuming this is the face of Gundam, given the prominence of Gundam Wing in the 2000s. I missed out on most of Gundam Wing during its original airing, and really did not start following Gundam until 08th MS Team came over. 「Heero Yuy」 is a good card in the beta, but is honestly being carried by the strength of 「Wing Gundam」 . Without this powerhouse of a unit, we only have a [+2|+1] pilot with a situational effect. But Heero's unit is that strong, and therefore it brings this pilot up with it. This is one of three pairings in the game that can get to 7 HP, and the only one that can reach a [7|7]. I do think this link is a bit overhyped, but we will save that explanation for later. None of that really matters, as if you are running green, you are playing as many 「Heero Yuy」 as you can.

Score: 8/10

Green's version of the 「Strike Dagger」 . There is not much to be said that has not been covered in the other colors, but this is a solid card. I would appreciate it if it had a link condition, but not everything can. This will find a spot in a low to the ground green / blue deck. It can create good early game pressure, and unlike the Lv2 cards from blue, it has enough AP to crack an EX Base. I do not think this will find a spot once deck lists get optimized, but until then, it is a great filler card, especially if you do not have playsets of every card that you want.

Score: 6/10

Quatre's pilot card feels like a card that was originally designed with the "Add to hand" Burst and a [+2|+1] bonus. Later on, after playtesting it, they found how oppressive of a card it was and brought it down to what we have today. With how scrappy the end game can get in the beta environment, the Action on this card is incredibly powerful. I think it is honestly good enough to play this card as a command that just happens to have pilot text on it that you never use. It is also the only good command that green gets in the beta. It will probably find its place as a 2 of, but it will be fighting for spots with cards like 「The Witch and the Bride」 and 「Intercept Orders」 .

Score: 5/10

The 「Rick Dom」 has gone up and down in my rankings a lot as I have played more games. On paper it looks solid, but the more I play with it, the worse the Breach 2 effect feels. It is not enough to break through an EX Base, and by the time larger bases are deployed, it is not enough to take down 5 HP in two swings. The fact that it cannot link is also problematic. Breach is not nearly as strong when your opponent can set up for it. Rather, it really excels when you can eliminate a base or shield position that the opponent was expecting to be safe. All in all, I think this card is a middle of the road card at this point in my testing, but I would not be surprised to see it move.

Score: 5/10

Green's second base is interesting as it is the only effect that performs any kind of deck manipulation. It is not terribly strong, as if you find two weak cards, or two cards that do not fit the current game state, then you are stuck placing one on top. Getting rid of one of them is still going to be a net positive at nearly any point in the game. It still is not on the level of the good white and blue bases, but I think it is better than the other option in green. I think it is good enough to run it as a 2 of in a 6 base deck.

Score: 4/10

After a few less impressive entries, we are back to an exciting entry. 「Shenlong Gundam」 is scary. It is fairly common to attack hasted on resource 4, linked with 「Chang Wufei」 , taking no return damage, while removing a unit and a shield or damaging a base. Without having full control of your opponent's board it is unlikely to survive past your opponent's turn, but at that point the damage is usually done. You will likely trade 2 for 2 or 2 for 3 in units / pilots in total while also dealing shield area damage. It is a little on the squishy side for a card that wants to fight so much.

This is not likely going to be included in every green deck. I generally find myself running the lower cost 「Char Aznable」 package or the 「Shenlong Gundam」 and 「Chang Wufei」 sets, but not together.

Score: 7/10

This card being incredibly weak really holds back 「Gundam Heavyarms」 . It does not provide a [+2|+1] stat bonus, and its effect has to be played during Main . At the very least, this should have been a Main / Action condition, allowing you to surprise an opponent mid-combat with an added on Breach 3 . I definitely do not recommend running this.

One interesting note, though, since I did not get this the first time I read the card. I had assumed that if you used the command side of this card on a 「Shenlong Gundam」 , that it would not do anything since it already had an instance of Breach of equal or higher level. But the comprehensive rules, namely 11-1-2-6, tell us that Breach is an additive keyword. In our example here, the 「Shenlong Gundam」 would then be a Breach 6 .

Score: 1/10

The first of three Wing Gundam units, and a firm middle of the road card. We say these in both blue and white. They are fine enough on stats, and pair with the good pilot in the color. Once you start reaching full playsets these will be getting cut, but until then, they are good fill cards.

Score: 5/10

Next up is the best unit in the beta set. Nothing else comes close to the sheer power level of this card. We are going to ignore its unique effect for now. It is an expensive card at 4 cost, but I do not generally feel the difference between Lv5 and Lv6 all that much. The [4|5] stat line is really powerful, as it means almost any pilot paired with this will get you to 6 HP, guaranteeing the only way this unit is trading is with another high end unit paired with one of the better pilots. 「Heero Yuy」 gets this up to a [7|7] which will be problematic for your opponent to deal with, no matter their board.

In terms of effects, we have a cool Breach 5 so that no matter what, if we are attacking while linked with 「Heero Yuy」 we are taking out whatever is in their shield area currently. Since that was not enough, we also get the unique ability to attack active units. This can feel borderline unfair when playing against blue / green decks, but conversely feels like its value falls off heavily against blocker heavy white / X variants. By the time 「Wing Gundam」 can get deployed, white can often have enough board control that they can play around the attack targeting.

Despite the strength of this card, beware getting pulled into always using the targeted attack ability. If you are trying to get the most out of the Wing, especially if you have linked it, the best play is often to initially attack their shield area and ignore their units. This will require them to attack into your 「Wing Gundam」 and allow you a trade attack and a Breach 5 into their shield area on your next turn. If they ever do not attack into your Wing, you can keep hitting shields until they do.

Score: 9/10

We are not so lucky with the third Wing Gundam. This one you are going to want to skip. It does fix some of the problems from 「First Contact」 , namely, it advances your board and gives you a resource that you can use the turn it is played. Though this is not nearly enough to bring this up to a playable level. As mentioned for other cards, 2 AP is a huge detriment, and this card is asking for you to spend your entire resource 3 turn playing it. There is nothing to ramp towards in the beta, and late game this is a miserable draw. It gets 2 points because it is technically not as bad as 「First Contact」 .

Score: 2/10

The first standard Zaku we get makes 「Gundam Aerial」 look like a real card. There really is not much to say for this card, and I am not sure what the point of it is. Maybe it was printed to make the 「Zaku II」 look that much better? Nothing in the current environment is desperate enough for a Lv1 play to run this. Short of getting a card that pulls Zaku Is out of your deck when the full set is released, I doubt that this will get any better in the future.

Score: 0/10

The second Zaku we find is hilariously better than its younger sibling. Absolutely do not underestimate this card, especially if you are playing first. When drawing your first hand, you should always be asking yourself what your answer is to one or two 「Zaku II」 s on your opponent's resource 2 turn. They are the ideal way to get an early lead on your opponent, and they do not fall to single 「Guntank」 ping. While it is not an ideal later game draw, it is always easy to drop on almost any resource count. The green decks I am building all start with 4 「Zaku II」 , until I find some reason not to.

Score: 8/10

#Summary

Finally, let's wrap up with a quick list of where all the scores landed:


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